The Greatest Story Ever Told
by Tikaani Spirit
Summary: When Terri is killed, Jay falls into depression and as the gang at Bristol Hillman Music Conservatory prepare for another year, A new girl shows up and she may very well be Jay's saving grace as he learns to deal with his depression and anger.
1. Returning Home

_(Redid the plot a little bit. so it's re-vamped. Enjoy!)_

Jay set his bags down at his room, looking around,

"Same as always." He muttered, throwing his bags on the bed before his roommate, Kiwi, came in,

"Hey man! The year flies fast, doesn't it?"

Jay flashed a weak smile at his friend before opening his guitar and bringing out some unmarked sheet music as well as a couple of songs he wrote with his girlfriend…or old girlfriend, Terri.

"So, how's Terri….."

Jay shut his suitcase with such force at the mention of her name that Kiwi jumped back. He saw Jay grip his arms as if he had gotten a sudden chill. After a minute of silence, Jay grabbed his guitar and turned to Kiwi,

"Hey..um.." Jay clapped his hands together, "Sorry."

Kiwi nodded, grabbing his drumsticks and going outside.

"I'm….I'm gonna go practice a little, OK?" he said, grabbing his key and walking out, his guitar behind him.

Kiwi looked at him and threw his hand through his hair,

"Umm….I'm guessing something happened?"

Jay walked out of the building and sat on the cool grass by the side. He strummed his guitar thoughtfully. Ever since Terri was killed, Jay had sunken into a deep depression, he stopped performing; stopped writing; just plain stopped living.

When his parents forced them to audition, he got in only because he knew that Terri would have wanted him to. Terri…

"I know what you were feeling that summer Terri!" he shouted to no one, but luckily, no one was around to hear it. Jay sighed and slammed his guitar into the grass, ever since that night when he got the call; his life had been hell. He was haunted constantly by demons, and he knew he had to do something, but some foreign anger that he could not control would well up, and then he never knew what happened after that. He looked around and saw all the kids, laughing and playing, having the time of their lives….and for the first time, Jay knew what it felt like to be completely alone.

Meanwhile, on the other side of campus, a girl was entering Bristol-Hillman Music Conservatory for the first time, and as she looked around seeing all the people walking around in the area and felt excited,

"I can't believe I made it!" she mumbled to herself, grinning as she opened the door and walked inside, clutching her drum sticks bag.

'I've gone from rags to riches, I guess.' She thought, walking around trying to find her room, "324….324…"

Lori Barkin was born into poverty in the south side of San Francisco, and survived on her own without a family. She learned to make a living off of drumming in the streets and one of her friends taped her and she got accepted, so she flew out to Los Angeles to see if maybe she could spring herself out of this poor life.

She slammed into the room kind of loud, making her roommate jerk up.

"Um…" Lori tucked a lock of auburn hair behind her ear. "Hi, I'm Lori." She said. The girl came up, her dark brown hair falling over her face,

"Kristy. Nice to meet you. you're new right?"

"You couldn't tell?" Lori laughed slightly, throwing her bag on the bed as well as her drumsticks,

"Oh…you're a drummer huh?"

"Yep, what about you?" she said, throwing her clothes into a closet. She was able to get somewhat nice clothes by working at a store when she wasn't performing.

"I'm a saxophonist. But I play guitar on the side." Kristy said, putting the last of her clothes away,

"Well, shall I give you a tour of the campus?" she asked as Lori put her worn drumsticks but a well worn picture of her parents before looking at her and grinning,

"Sure. I'd like that."


	2. Jazz in the Meadows

_((I've decided I am keeping this story now that I have an actual PLOT LINE and it took forever to come up with it. Enjoy!))_

"Well, obviously this is the auditorium, where we'll have to go for the introductions in about an hour." Kristy said, pointing out all the sights and sounds of the campus. Kristy had her case with her as they walked outside,

"And um…that's the park…and the train station. There's a couple of good places to eat around here, but that's basically it."

Lori looked around and around, "This is fantastic." She said out loud, looking around. Kristy nodded her head,

"Yea, it's pretty cool. Here, you don't have a summer job, no parents to bug you…"

Lori zoned out and looked down at her feet. She vowed that no one here would find out her situation. After all, she was just like them. Or…at least I think…she thought, looking around again.

Jay sighed and looked around, blinking at the sun again. He checked his watch momentarily and realized that he had to go to the introduction.

'_Nah…great'_ he thought, standing up and grabbing his guitar, before heading inside to the auditorium, taking his normal spot by Kiwi with Robin in front of him.

'_How does she get in year after year?_' he thought to himself, looking back. His eyes caught the sight of a girl, her auburn hair falling just over her shoulders and her face soft as she surveyed the scene. Jay turned back around,

"Not again." He told himself.

After the same old introduction, everyone headed off to their first class, Jay lagging behind, as everyone hurried off, talking and laughing.

'Boy Jay, you're out of it no doubt. Maybe Mr. Torvald's class will be better' he thought, walking around. Classes didn't start until the next day, so Jay obviously had nothing better to do than to go up to the roof.

Terri and Jay had gone up t the roof a lot in the year they had known each other, and however many times he went up here, he still never got over the initial excitement. But…this time Terri wasn't there. Terri was now…nothing more than a memory deep in his mind. He wiped a tear forming in his eye and lifted his guitar onto his back, walking off the roof. It was just too painful at the moment. Someday he would go back….

After the assembly, Kristy, Lori, and a couple of Kristy's friends all gathered by the entrance, all with their instruments.

"Well, I think this campus could use some livening up" one of the girls, Casey said, raising her tenor saxophone to her lips and playing a jazzy melody. Lori grinned, took her sticks and banged a jazz beat against the concrete. Kristy joined Casey with her alto, the two voices blending well, as Cassie, a flutist and Rachel, a singer began to vocalize and play. All over the campus, people started to pick up, raising their instruments, following along as the music flowed through Lori,

"This is so cool!" she shouted as a violinist played next to her ear, changing the tone from jazz to country. Almost immediately everyone changed their tone. And now, as Jay was walking down and heard the band, he looked over and saw that girl again, drumming.

"She's a drummer" he said to himself.

"Hey Jay!" a voice called, Jay turned around to see Denise with her violin,

"Give us somethin' on the guitar!" Kiwi said, Jay shook his head,

"Naw guys. I'm gonna pass on this one." He said, walking off, catching the eye of the girl. He grinned slightly before hurrying off just as everyone sang out one last note,

"Hey, that was awesome!"

"Yea, well, welcome to Bristol-Hillman my friend." Casey said, grinning wildly. Lori smiled and looked around, she was gonna like it here, but suddenly her eye caught something. She turned around to see someone hurrying off, the guitar case blocking her view.

'_Weird' _


	3. Peroxide

_(kinda of a funny chapter...plus where Jay and Lori meet...)_

That night when everyone else was settling down and in their room, Lori was out prowling around, investigating the dorm. She was in the lobby when she saw something outside and opened the door, shutting it behind her. She saw a squirrel run into a bush,

"Ok. Then." She said, turning to go back in, but then realized she had locked herself out,

"Brilliant!" she called to no one, banging on the door, hoping someone could hear.her. She saw a shadow come down the hall,

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!" she said as she saw a guy come around the corner, his hands slumped in his pockets with his spiked blonde-tipped hair looking down. His head shot up, his hazel eyes surprised. He stood at the door, cocking an eyebrow as Lori knocked on the door,

"LET ME IN! IT'S COLD." She said, banging on the door. Jay just shook his head and waved her off as he started to walk away,

"DON'T YOU WALK AWAY FROM ME, YOU….YOU PEROXIDED MONKEY!" she shouted. Jay turned around, amusement in his eyes before starting to walk off again,

"HEY! HEY! TURN AROUND! WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM SKIPPY?" she yelled. Jay looked at her before going back over and opening the door.

"What's you call me?" he said, his English accent drawling.

"Ooohhh…you mean the peroxided monkey or…Skippy?" she asked, looking at him.

"Well, the peroxided monkey doesn't think that I should let strangers into the dorm."

"Come on dude. It's like…late."

"Do you know what time it is?"

"Nope." She said, looking annoyed.

"Wellup, I guess you're stuck. Unless you happen to have a banana with you, you're out of luck." He said,

"WAIT!"

He shut the door and walked off.

"YOU ARE GOING TO BE ONE SORRY

Lori sat outside the door until Kristy came down the halls, until Lori was once again banging on the doors,

"LET ME IN!"

"JESUS…." Kristy started.

"DIED ON THE CROSS." Lori said, coming inside, rubbing her arms. L.A. or not, it still gets cold.

"where have you been?"

"I saw a squirrel…and then this English kid wouldn't let me in.."

"Oh, Jay. Well, he does that to everyone. He thinks he's super-cool. Come on. We gotta big day tomorrow." Kristy said as they walked up to the dorms,

BEEP BEEP

"Kristy…make the loud noise go bye-bye." Lori said, pulling her pillow over her head drowsily as the alarm clock buzzed. Kristy half-heartedly threw a shoe, striking the clock so that it fell and just made it louder.

"Mmmph."

"Wake up Lori. We got classes." Lori sat up, her hair sticking up, her eyes half-closed. Kristy laughed and started to get ready when Denise came in,

"Hey girl! Haven't seen much of ya since we got here!"

Lori knew Denise because Lori worked in her mom's store and she was the one who taped Lori to get in.

"I know, right? Let me get pretty first…"

"That could take a while." Jay noted, walking past the room.

Lori rolled her eyes at him,

"He's so annoying." She said, grabbing a pair of jeans and a shirt with a rocking blue guitar with graphics around it.

"Let's go!"


End file.
